• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.10
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• pp.538-542
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• 2021

Background: The relationship between small for gestational age (SGA) and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) remains unknown. Purpose: This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the relationship between SGA and the risk of ASD. Methods: We searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases from inception to November 2020. The heterogeneity across studies was explored using the I² statistic. The possibility of publication bias was assessed using Begg test. The results were reported using the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) using a random-effects model. Results: The literature search yielded 824 articles with 8,752,138 participants. We assessed the association between SGA and the risk of ASD in cohort and case-control studies. Based on the random-effects model, compared with SGA, the estimated OR of the risk of ASD was 1.17 (95% CI, 1.09-1.24). Therefore, there was a significant association between SGA and the risk of ASD. Conclusion: Based on OR reports in epidemiological studies, we showed that SGA is a risk factor for and can increase the risk of ASD. The association between SGA and ASD risk has further relevance to the current public health emphasis on appropriate prepregnancy weight and pregnancy weight gain.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.131-140
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• 2021

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to systematically review the studies on the effects of social story intervention on the individuals with autism spectrum disorders(ASD) to provide the basis for evidence-based practice. Methods : In order to find out the studies on the effect of social story intervention on individuals with ASD, studies published from 2011 to December 2020 were searched on Google Academic Search. The keywords used were "autism spectrum disorder AND social story". A total of 16,900 studies were searched, and from these, 12 studies were selected based on the application of the selection and exclusion criteria. The included studies comprised of 10 single subject design studies and 2 randomized controlled trials design studies. The included studies were analyzed in accordance to population, intervention, outcome measures and results. Results : As a result of analysing the subjects of the included studies, we found out that pre-school children and adolescents were the most common groups of individuals diagnozsed with ASD. In addition to ASD, the diagnosis of the subjects included intellectual disability, Asperger, and Prader-willi. We found out that there were more interventions that were mixed with other interventions, than just the pure social story interventions. In particular, video modeling was found to be the most frequent intervention. This was followed by photo-based social stories. For outcome measure, autism social skills profile was found to be the most often used standardized assessment. For a non-standardized assessment, social desired behavior was found to be the most frequently evaluated behavior, followed by personal problem behavior. Of all the dependent variables, the dependent variable reported as "effective" was the most, followed by "some effective". Conclusion : This study is organized to help the individuals with ASD, families, researchers, and therapists understand the effects of social story intervention on the individuals with ASD in an easy fashion. Further, therapists can use this study as the basic data for evidence-based practice.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.613-623
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• 2022

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder associated with cognitive and neurobehavioral disorders. It affects the person's behavior and performance. Autism affects verbal and non-verbal communication in social interactions. Early screening and diagnosis of ASD are essential and helpful for early educational planning and treatment, the provision of family support, and for providing appropriate medical support for the child on time. Thus, developing automated methods for diagnosing ASD is becoming an essential need. Herein, we investigate using various machine learning methods to build predictive models for diagnosing ASD in children using facial images. To achieve this, we used an autistic children dataset containing 2936 facial images of children with autism and typical children. In application, we used classical machine learning methods, such as support vector machine and random forest. In addition to using deep-learning methods, we used a state-of-the-art method, that is, automated machine learning (AutoML). We compared the results obtained from the existing techniques. Consequently, we obtained that AutoML achieved the highest performance of approximately 96% accuracy via the Hyperpot and tree-based pipeline optimization tool optimization. Furthermore, AutoML methods enabled us to easily find the best parameter settings without any human efforts for feature engineering.

• BMB Reports
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• v.52 no.7
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• pp.424-433
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• 2019

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental monogenic disorder with a strong genetic influence. Idiopathic autism could be defined as a type of autism that does not have a specific causative agent. Among signalling cascades, mTOR signalling pathway plays a pivotal role not only in cell cycle, but also in protein synthesis and regulation of brain homeostasis in ASD patients. The present review highlights, underlying mechanism of mTOR and its role in altered signalling cascades as a triggering factor in the onset of idiopathic autism. Further, this review discusses how distorted mTOR signalling pathway stimulates truncated translation in neuronal cells and leads to downregulation of protein synthesis at dendritic spines of the brain. This review concludes by suggesting downstream regulators such as p70S6K, eIF4B, eIF4E of mTOR signalling pathway as promising therapeutic targets for idiopathic autistic individuals.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.26-42
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• 2018

Objectives The purpose of this study is to figure out the recent trend of the treatment for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by comparing Korean and Chinese clinical studies. Methods National Digital Science Library (NDSL), Oriental medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS), Research Information Sharing Service (RISS) and Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal (KTKP) were used to search Korean studies which were published from January, 2011 to May, 2017. Also Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Wanfang data were used to search Chinese studies which were published from the same period. Key words of 'Autism' and 'Autism spectrum disorder' were used. Results 3 Korean studies and 21 Chinese studies were selected and analyzed to find out the most commonly used diagnostic criteria, treatments, including herbal medicine and acupuncture, and treatment assessment procedures. Conclusions As a result of comparing Korean and Chinese clinical studies for the treatment of ASD, both Korean and Chinese medicine treatments showed their effectiveness. However, there were some differences between two countries' clinical trends. In order for this study to be helpful, more highly evidenced clinical studies should be followed.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.80-86
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• 2018

The intervention of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is limited research focus on the effect of occupational-based intervention. This study sought to determine the effect of occupational-based intervention of chopstick skills for children with ASD. This study included a total of 3 children with ASD.Using single-subject study design, a changing criterion design and ABC design were implemented. The participants' behavior was observed and recorded throughout each session. In this study, the results were analyzed through visual graphs. The amount of food that was moved using the chopsticks was gradually increased. The results show that all participants significantly improved in their ability to use chopsticks in each intervention session. In addition, Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS) improved the generalization. According to the AMPS, both the overall motor and process skills increased from baseline an average of 0.7 logit. The results of this study showed occupational-based intervention on chopsticks skill to be effective in acquisition and generalization of chopstick skill in children with ASD.

• Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.207-215
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• 2016

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the differences in the facial emotion recognition and discrimination ability between children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: Fifty-three children aged 7 to 11 years participated in this study. Among them, 43 were diagnosed with ADHD and 10 with ASD. The parents of the participants completed the Korean version of the Child Behavior Checklist, ADHD Rating Scale and Conner's scale. The participants completed the Korean Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-fourth edition and Advanced Test of Attention (ATA), Penn Emotion Recognition Task and Penn Emotion Discrimination Task. The group differences in the facial emotion recognition and discrimination ability were analyzed by using analysis of covariance for the purpose of controlling the visual omission error index of ATA. Results: The children with ADHD showed better recognition of happy and sad faces and less false positive neutral responses than those with ASD. Also, the children with ADHD recognized emotions better than those with ASD on female faces and in extreme facial expressions, but not on male faces or in mild facial expressions. We found no differences in the facial emotion discrimination between the children with ADHD and ASD. Conclusion: Our results suggest that children with ADHD recognize facial emotions better than children with ASD, but they still have deficits. Interventions which consider their different emotion recognition and discrimination abilities are needed.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Sensory Integration
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2023

Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of computerized cognitive rehabilitation on the attention of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods : A multiple-baseline design was used in combination with a single-subject experimental research design. A total of 15 sessions were conducted three times a week, each lasting for 30 minutes. The maintenance and selective attention tests in the attention area of the computerized cognitive rehabilitation program were evaluated in random order after each session was completed. To evaluate the participants' selective attention, star cancellation tests was performed as pre- and post-tests. Results : After the computerized cognitive rehabilitation intervention, the accuracy of the participants' attention improved in terms of the maintenance and selective attention tests. In the analysis involving the two standard deviation bands, participants 1 and 2 showed a significant improvement, whereas participant 3 did not show a significant improvement, although the average value improved. Conclusion : The results of this study confirmed that cognitive rehabilitation involving a computerized cognitive rehabilitation program had a positive effect on the attention of three children with ASD.

• Clinical Psychopharmacology and Neuroscience
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.383-390
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• 2018

Objective: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental syndrome with an increasingly prevalent etiology, yet not fully understood. It has been thought that vitamin D, complex B vitamin levels and homocysteine are associated with environmental factors and are important in ASD. The aim of this study was to examine serum vitamin D, vitamin D receptor (VDR), homocysteine, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and folate levels in ASD. Methods: In this study, serum vitamin D and VDR, homocysteine, vitamins B6, B12 and folate levels were determined in 60 patients with ASD (aged 3 to 12 years) and in 45 age-gender matched healthy controls. In addition, calcium, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase, which are associated with vitamin D metabolism, were measured from serum in both groups. ASD severity was evaluted by the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Results: Serum vitamin D and VDR were substantially reduced in patients with ASD in comparision to control group. However, homocysteine level was significantly higher and vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and folate were also reduced in patients with ASD. Total CARS score showed a positive association with homocysteine and a negative correlation with vitamins D,B6, B12, folate and VDR. Conclusion: This comprehensive study, which examines many parameters has shown that low serum levels of vitamins D, B6, B12, folate and VDR as well as high homocysteine are important in the etiopathogenesis of ASD. However, further studies are required to define the precise mechanism(s) of these parameters and their contributions to the etiology and treatment of ASD.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-20
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how accurately children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; n = 9) recognized four basic emotions (i.e., happiness, sadness, anger, and fear) following musical or visual cues. Their performance was compared to that of typically developing children (TD; n = 14). All of the participants were between the ages of 7 and 13 years. Four musical cues and four visual cues for each emotion were presented to evaluate the participants' ability to recognize the four basic emotions. The results indicated that there were significant differences between the two groups between the musical and visual cues. In particular, the ASD group demonstrated significantly less accurate recognition of the four emotions compared to the TD group. However, the emotion recognition of both groups was more accurate following the musical cues compared to the visual cues. Finally, for both groups, their greatest recognition accuracy was for happiness following the musical cues. In terms of the visual cues, the ASD group exhibited the greatest recognition accuracy for anger. This initial study support that musical cues can facilitate emotion recognition in children with ASD. Further research is needed to improve our understanding of the mechanisms involved in emotion recognition and the role of sensory cues play in emotion recognition for children with ASD.